


Bridge 2

by GreyWardenMaleia



Series: Hokamaii Gaiden [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen, Original Character(s), Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyWardenMaleia/pseuds/GreyWardenMaleia
Summary: Hoka and Kakashi share a few words as they walk away from a night with their colleagues.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Hokamaii Gaiden [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055021





	Bridge 2

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place immediately after Tsunade's return to Konoha.

The warm night air hung low like the lanterns that dotted the streets. It had been a pleasant night. They had toasted to Tsunade’s return, to the hope that Lee’s surgery would go well, and, to his slight discomfort and chagrin, Kakashi’s recovery. And then, with the looming threat of the assignment each Jounin would undertake in the morning, the mixed group of educators and soldiers had parted ways.

While the night itself was still fairly young, it was already dark and completely cloudless. Hokamaii and Kakashi took to strolling back to their respective apartments together in the warm night. Citizens passed by on either side of them: some gathered their children and spouses after sharing a light meal, some hobbled drunkenly with friends or with colleagues, and some were alone, making their way towards some unknown destination.

Hokamaii wondered if all villages were as bizarrely resistant to trauma as Konoha. To be sure, Konoha had faced disaster before – as had every other shinobi village, without a doubt – but it was as though the public memory for Orochimaru’s attack on Konoha several months prior was almost nonexistent. Her feelings about this were mixed.

_It is naïve to think that it is only the shinobi who endure._

Whatever unsettled expression she must have been showing on her face didn’t go unnoticed.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind,” Kakashi commented, turning and looking towards her as they walked.

Hokamaii stretched her arms out lazily and folded them behind her head.

“To be honest, it’s hard not to,” she admitted. As they walked, she glanced up towards the sky. Though littered with stars, she imagined how incomprehensibly beautiful the night sky might be if they were to walk farther away from light of the surrounding bars.

They came to a small concrete bridge bisecting a river that ran through the village. As they had so often done, they slowed upon reaching the bridge, and Hokamaii leaned against it, folding her arms beneath her chest and staring out across the water. The water gently glistened with reflections of the moonlight. The twinkling lights served as the only indication of where the water ended and the night sky began.

Kakashi was close behind her. As he approached the guardrails of the bridge, he removed his hands from his pockets and leaned his forearms against the iron, mimicking Hokamaii as the two of them gazed across the water.

“Well then, do you want to talk about it?”

The question caught Hoka off guard.

“Hmm?”

“What’s bothering you,” Kakashi clarified, “You don’t usually look so pensive.”

There was a levity in his voice that made Hokamaii feel at ease. She smiled and muttered a laugh.

“I don’t think you’ll be fond of it if you hear it. You may even lecture me,” She teased. It was clear that she did so half-heartedly and Kakashi turned towards her with intrigue.

“There’s no helping our situation. Not right now, at least.” She paused. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still recovering. What you went through…” She trailed off and Kakashi appeared to take a deep breath before responding. 

“I’m not the only shinobi who, under ideal circumstances, wouldn’t be sent back out already –”

“I also wouldn’t call your injury standard. You weren’t attacked by an average shinobi.”

“I don’t think that matters,” Kakashi replied, his voice low. “Unless you question the Fourth Hokage’s judgement, that is.”

Hokamaii rose an eyebrow. She knew Kakashi was joking – if only slightly – but he was right. However, he had asked her to speak her concerns, and she was going to take that offer regardless of the embarrassment it brought her.

“Please…be careful, Kakashi.”

Kakashi closed his eyes. 

“Yeah. I will.”


End file.
